An Excerpt From...

His Final Seduction by
Lori Wilde

Jorgina Gerard closed the glossy brochure, featuring Eros Airlines and Fantasy Resort erotic vacation packages, and fanned herself with it. She was alarmed that her body was suddenly aroused at--of all places--the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport ticket kiosk. Mentally, she gave herself a shake. What was the matter with her?

Um, could it be because you haven't had sex since your boyfriend dumped you?

Cringing, Jorgie bit down on her bottom lip. All around her there was bustling activity--business travelers rolling their carry-on bags toward the taxi stands, separated lovers reuniting with heartfelt hugs, harried moms and dads herding ebullient children away from the enticing dangers of escalators and baggage carousels.

What was she doing? Why had she let her best friend since kindergarten, Avery Bodel, talk her into this? Was she insane? Embarking on an exotic itinerary dubbed with the provocative title Make Love Like A Courtesan. She didn't need sex lessons. She was twenty-five. She watched cable television. She'd been in a serious relationship and... and...

And as Brian had walked out the door he'd tossed the accusation over his shoulder. "You're just too damned conventional in the sack, Jorgina. Men need variety, excitement, danger."

Danger? Jorgie closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Maybe she wasn't the problem, maybe it was Brian.

And if Brian was the problem, then she didn't need to be here, right? She just needed to find some guy who could appreciate conventional.

"You know," she began, turning to her friend. This week, Avery's hair was dyed the color of muscat grapes-- a deep hue of acrid purple. As a hairdresser, Avery changed her hair style and color as often as most people changed clothes. "Maybe this--"

"Oh, no," said Avery. She wrapped a restraining hand around Jorgie's wrist. "You are not!"

"Not what?" Jorgie asked, but her voice came out high and squeaky, giving her away.

"You're not fooling me. I've known you too long. You've got that I'm-gonna-run-away-from-fun look in your eyes. Same look you had in eighth grade when we played Spin The Bottle at Miley Kinslow's birthday party and it pointed to the guy you'd been mooning over."

She'd had a puppy-love crush on Quint for the entire school year and he barely knew she existed. If she squeezed her eyes closed tightly enough, she could still see him as he'd looked then--lanky, medium brown hair, a devilish grin that melted tweenaged hearts. Of course as a tenth grader, he'd never given her the time of day and she'd been far too shy to even say boo to him, but she'd been besotted. Jorgie sighed. She'd been getting it wrong with the opposite sex ever since.

Wonder what ever happened to him? Then she remembered something her brother Keith had told her in passing after his ten-year high school reunion the previous fall. He'd heard Quint had been stationed in Afghanistan, but that he'd recently left the air force and was working for some private airline. That did not sound like a conventional guy.

"Yeah." Avery tapped her temple with an index finger. "Quint Mason. That's him. This trip is just like that. You have the chance to grab life by the throat and really live."